requesting letters from people that have no idea who you are

[MichiganEMTInt]

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I'm sure many people are in the same situation. You were one of 500 in a science class and you need a letter of recommendation from a science professor. What do you say? Obviously I will provide them with my personal statement and CV. How did other people (that did this in the past) approach this? Thanks-

 

[SarsMO]

Is this the only option you have? It is much better to have letters from profs who actually know you - inside class and out...otherwise you are just going to get the standard: "So and so was in my class. They earned an A. They were a good student." You want letters from people who know you and can say something about your character...but if this is the only option you have, give them everything - CV, personal statment, transcript, MCAT scores, references; the more the better!

 

[HoboCommander]

they are unlikely to write a letter for you. ask a prof that actually knows you well.

 

[p30doc]

2 of my writers didn't "know" me, large classes and I never attended office hours because I never needed help. I wrote them emails briefly describing myself and asked to meet them to further introduce myself. I then had a good conversation with them and provided resume, transcripts, mcat score, and personal statement. They both seemed very happy to write a letter for me and they said it would be a strong letter. So hopefully it works out. I went after professors whose personalities I liked and who I felt cared about their students and teaching. Don't ask the grumpy orgo professor who only cares about his research.

 

[muffinman853]

I had the exact same experience as redrumi. Send them detailed e-mails and ask to meet with them at their convenience. I was nervous about doing this at first, but you gotta realize that the worst they can do is say no.

 

[scowdeva]

2 of my writers didn't "know" me, large classes and I never attended office hours because I never needed help. I wrote them emails briefly describing myself and asked to meet them to further introduce myself. I then had a good conversation with them and provided resume, transcripts, mcat score, and personal statement. They both seemed very happy to write a letter for me and they said it would be a strong letter. So hopefully it works out. I went after professors whose personalities I liked and who I felt cared about their students and teaching. Don't ask the grumpy orgo professor who only cares about his research.

I also did this for one of my letters...and obviously it was good to great enough to get me a few acceptances. I can sympathize with the OP, as I'm guessing they go to a huge state school like I did. It's unbelievably hard to 'get to know' your profs when all your classes are that large (or larger) and you have a ton of other things on your plate. Obviously, it's best to get letters from profs who know and love you outside of class, but for a lot of people that's not exactly practical and plausible. Give them as much as you can (primary if you have it printed, CV, personal statement) and schedule a sit down to talk about yourself and your interests. A lot of profs know the drill for this letter nonsense, and have done it themselves so they can sympathize. I know that in the future if someone asked me, I'd do it for them if they gave me some background info and sat down with me.